Ukrainian poultry and feed producer MHP has suspended the operations of its websites, only leaving a single-page message on its homepage explaining the decision.
As Ukraine is in turmoil from attacks from Russian forces, the company left a message in the Ukrainian language, which when translated to English, says: “In order to counteract the cyberattacks on the part of the Russian Federation, the IHP has temporarily suspended the operation of the sites.”
In the same message, the phrases “Glory to Ukraine!” and “Glory to the armed forces of Ukraine!” appear.
The company’s homepage also states that MHP will provide its Nasha Ryaba products free of charge to the armed forces of Ukraine, the territorial defense, hospitals and displaced people.
A few days prior to the suspension of MHP websites, Dr. John Rich, executive chairman of MHP, stated that it was continuing its operations in order to offer food security to the country’s residents, while also doing everything possible to protect the safety of its employees both at work and away from the job. Rich highlighted some ways that the invasion has impacted operations. Among those are distribution challenges, as well as halting the company’s ability to export outside of the country.
A press release concerning the publicly traded MHP was also issued by the London Stock Exchange. That release stated that MHP's poultry production facilities have not suffered any physical damage to date, but the company’s facilities are running at a lower utilization, with some excess stock being frozen. To date, the company is not aware of any casualties among its employees, although it has received reports of some casualties among their relatives.
That same press release stated that MHP’s delivery across Ukraine is highly problematic due to lack of drivers and fuel, and delivery is practically impossible to the regions which are under heavy fire, also known as “red zones."
MHP, formerly known as Myronivsky Hliboproduct, is the largest poultry producer in Ukraine, the second largest in Europe and 17th largest in the world, according to the Poultry International Top Companies survey. MHP is also Ukraine’s largest feed producer and the 60th largest feed producer in the world.
Ukrainian egg companies
While MHP’s website operations have been suspended, the website of Avangardco, Ukraine’s largest egg producer, and Avangardco’s parent company UkrLandFarming, seem to still have operational websites, although neither has accessible information concerning the conflict.
The website of OvoStar Union, Ukraine’s second largest egg producer, also appears to still be operational, but the last noticeable update appears to have been made on January 28.